Alphadjo Cisse made Italian football history with a hat-trick in Milan's 4-0 Europa League win over Salzburg. The striker, who joined the Rossoneri in the summer from Catanzaro and turns 20 next Thursday, became the youngest Italian player to score three or more goals in a single match in Europe's top club competitions. Ruben Amorim is reaping the rewards of the faith he has shown the youngster, who was reprimanded by Fabio Capello in his post-match interview on Sky.
The coach from Pieris, who is now 80 years old, made the remark in a friendly manner and with the intention of helping him, but he had noticed something he didn't like about Cisse's behavior on the field, beyond the goals he scored.
"Hello, congratulations! Scoring three goals is not easy at all in international competitions. I was watching you during the match and several times, when you had the ball at your feet, you passed it back, when you could have passed it forward. Don't get into this habit, because in the first games you played with Milan in Serie A, you passed the ball forward. So, go back to doing what you did before: play forward and don't pass the ball back. Don't make me angry, because I believe in you."
At that moment, Cisse appeared simultaneously happy for the compliments from a great figure in Italian football and a little confused by the criticism, so much so that he only managed to stammer: "Okay, I'll take it as advice. Thank you."
Cisse is Milan's top scorer: 5 goals in 7 matches
Born in Treviso to Guinean parents, Cisse came through the Verona academy before moving to Catanzaro last year. He has had a dream start to the season for Milan. His hat-trick tonight takes him to five goals in seven games, having also netted two crucial goals against Torino and Juventus in Serie A.
🇮🇹 Alphadjo Cisse vs Salzburg: ⚽️ 3 Goals (First senior hat-trick!) 🥅 4 Shots 🎯 4 Shots on target 📊 94% Pass accuracy 💨 1 Successful dribble 🧱 1 Tackle ⭐ 9.12 WhoScored Rating 19 years old and putting on an absolute clinical display in the Europa League! 💥🔴⚫️ #UEL | #ACMilan
— WhoScored (@WhoScored) October 15, 2026
Sky pointed out this statistic: with five goals scored in just 360 minutes of play, Alphadjo is Milan's top scorer this season. "That's something that's kind of secondary," he replied modestly. "Today it was important to win and we did it, so we're very happy. Amorim says he's in love with me? What he says could be an incentive for me. Anyway, I come from Serie B, but I had teammates who welcomed me very well, so after that everything became much easier on the pitch."
